Sioux Falls officials are releasing more details regarding a stabbing that killed a woman. It happened Wednesday afternoon at a home in the southwest part of the city. The woman in her fifties is dead, and a man suspected in her murder is in jail.
Within half an hour of a deadly stabbing Wednesday, Sioux Falls police arrested a suspect.
At 3:30 in the afternoon, officers got a call that a woman was bleeding. First responders tried to save her, but 53-year-old Brenda Lynn Hansen died at the scene. Police Chief Doug Barthel says it appears she died from stab wounds.
Barthel says three adults and two small children were in the home when the attack happened. They didn’t see the stabbing, but they called 911 and one person managed to get the license plate of a vehicle leaving.
Officers followed that lead, and authorities found the suspect at his house. Barthel says police arrested 41-year-old John Senn.
"He had been to the Hansen residence on prior occasions, so the victim and suspect did know each other," Barthel says. "He was also found to be in possession with some OxyContin pills that we believe came from that residence on Misty Glenn Place."
Barthel says it’s too early to figure out exactly how the drugs fit into the killing.
The murder happened in a portion of Sioux Falls which lies in Lincoln County. States Attorney Tom Wollman says he’s filed initial charges against Senn.
"It’s a five-count criminal complaint alleging murder in the first degree or, in the alternative, count 2 murder in the first degree is charged, is what we commonly refer to as the felony murder charge," Wollman says. "Count 3 is murder in the second degree. Count 4 is robbery in the first degree. Count 5 is burglary in the first degree charge."
Wollman says the investigation continues and police are executing search warrants that could lead to additional charges against John Senn.